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Tejada Is Suspended for a Positive Drug Test

Miguel Tejada on Saturday became the third former most valuable player to be suspended in the last month after he tested positive for an amphetamine and was barred for 105 games.

Tejada, a Kansas City Royals infielder, drew one of the longest penalties handed down by Major League Baseball, which also suspended the Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez for 211 games and the Brewers star Ryan Braun for 65.

All three players have been dogged by doping allegations in the past.

“I apologize to my teammates, the Royals organization and to the Kansas City fans,” Tejada, 39, said in a statement released by the players union. “I have a medical condition that requires medication to treat. I took that medication while reapplying for a therapeutic-use exemption. Under the requirements of the joint drug program, I made a mistake in doing so.”

Tejada told ESPNDeportes.com he used Adderall to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. He said that he had been given permission but that the permission had expired.

Major League Baseball’s medical staff grants therapeutic-use exemptions that allow players to use drugs like Adderall. But the substance has also become a popular performance enhancer, accounting for 10 of the 11 positive stimulant tests in the major league program in the year that ended with the 2012 World Series, according to the annual report of the independent program administrator.

The report, released in November, said medication for A.D.D. accounted for 116 of 119 therapeutic-use exemptions granted by Major League Baseball.

Tejada, a six-time All-Star and the American League M.V.P. in 2002, previously tested positive under the league’s amphetamine policy, which meant he was subject to a 25-game ban for a second positive test and an 80-game suspension for a third.

Tejada, who was already on the 60-day disabled list with a calf injury, is not challenging the penalties. He will miss the remainder of this season, which exhausts his contract with Kansas City. If he signs for next season, he will miss about two months before he is eligible to play.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re M.V.P. or king of the world,” Royals pitcher James Shields said. “If you’re going to do things that are illegal, you’re going to get caught for it, and you’re going to get suspended. It’s a shame because I really like him a lot as a teammate.”

Tejada’s suspension is one of the longest nonlifetime bans in baseball’s history. Others suspended for long stretches include Pascual Perez, who was barred for the 1992 season for a positive cocaine test, and Dwight Gooden, who was barred for the 1995 season for violating his drug aftercare program.

DODGERS 5, PHILLIES 0 Clayton Kershaw pitched eight dominant innings, and visiting Los Angeles won its 10th straight. The Dodgers kept the Phillies scoreless in two games under their new manager, Ryne Sandberg.

Kershaw also had a run-scoring double as the Dodgers improved to 25-3 since the All-Star break. They have won 19 of their last 20 road games and are 42-8 over all since June 22, the best 50-game stretch in the majors since the 1942 St. Louis Cardinals had the same record.

Cubs shortstop Starlin Castro was pulled shortly after making a mental mistake in the fifth. The Cardinals led by 1-0 and had the bases loaded with one out when Castro caught a pop-up by Matt Carpenter in short left field. Castro put his head down and hesitated to throw home, looking as if he thought the inning was over. Jon Jay scored from third base, and the other Cardinals runners advanced.

DIAMONDBACKS 15, PIRATES 5 Martin Prado went 4 for 5 with a three-run homer, Paul Goldschmidt added a three-run shot, and Arizona routed host Pittsburgh. Prado’s homer, his 11th of the season, capped a six-run third inning against Jeff Locke and put the Diamondbacks ahead by 8-0. Prado has driven in 13 runs in his past 10 games.

Goldschmidt’s homer, his 30th, came in the ninth and tied him with Pittsburgh’s Pedro Alvarez for the National League lead. Alvarez hit his 30th earlier in the game.

Photo

Miguel Tejada, who tested positive for an amphetamine, said, “I have a medical condition that requires medication to treat.”Credit
Barton Silverman/The New York Times

Trevor Cahill, who had been out since July 1 with a bruised right hip, earned his first win since May 17. He was activated from the disabled list before the game.

BREWERS 2, REDS 0 Yovani Gallardo, who came off the disabled list Friday, did not give up a hit until the fourth inning, leading Milwaukee to a win at home.

GIANTS 6, MARLINS 4 Gregor Blanco hit a two-run triple, and San Francisco won at Miami.

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Adam Jones had two hits in the third, Baltimore’s highest-scoring inning of the season, which featured an error by shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, two walks, a passed ball and a wild pitch. Six of the seven runs were unearned.

BLUE JAYS 6, RAYS 2 Toronto’s J. A. Happ won in his first game at Tropicana Field since he was injured in a game at Tampa Bay three months ago.

Happ, who fractured his skull when he was hit with a liner on May 7, allowed two runs and five hits over five and a third innings. It was his third start over all since he returned from the disabled list and his first win since April 12.

Cabrera has been slowed by a strained lower abdomen, an injured hip and a banged-up left leg, but he was healthy enough to take a victory lap.

RANGERS 15, MARINERS 3 Jurickson Profar hit a run-scoring single before scoring himself on a suicide squeeze in host Texas’ five-run inning off Felix Hernandez. The Rangers, who have won 15 of 18 games, finished with a season high in runs and had their highest-scoring game at Rangers Ballpark without a home run. The stadium is in its 20th season.

Hernandez (12-6) had a season-high five walks and allowed five runs and five hits in five innings. Hernandez, who pitched eight shutout innings last Sunday against Milwaukee, entered the game as the American League’s earned run average leader, but that mark went from 2.28 to 2.47 — higher than the 2.41 mark of the Yankees’ Hiroki Kuroda.

BROADCASTER REACTS TO DEATH Jerry Remy, the longtime Boston Red Sox broadcaster, said he could not describe his “disgust and remorse” over allegations that his son fatally stabbed his girlfriend.

In a statement released through his Twitter account, Remy said he and his wife were “heartbroken” over the death of Jennifer Martel on Thursday night. His son, Jared, had been in custody, charged with assaulting Martel, but he was released the day before her death.